The new update killed my Mac

lostinvast · Feb 16, 2009

hi there

So yesterday while spending way too much time on youtube, I was then prompted to install the new updates for my mac, I believe it was java and a security update, and maybe itunes as well....

All was smooth with the update, but when I went to re-start, the gray screen pops up with the apple icon and the progress spinning wheel underneath it, and I also hear the "ahhhhh" start-up wave file of macintosh bliss, but it will not proceed past that grey screen. No matter how long I leave the computer on. I know it usually takes a bit longer after a new update for the computer to boot, but I have had it on that screen for over an hour now. Nothing. I've re-booted several times.

I have an imac from 2005, and it's running on OS X Tiger. I'm honestly not 100% sure on what version it is, but I think it's 10.4 or 10.5. I'd tell you but....it won't boot up

Has anybody else experienced this problem? Anybody know a fix?

Thank-you in advance!

Chilbear · Feb 16, 2009

Have you tried to start from the Black OS install disc for Tiger? I would head to Disk Utility and verify and repair the drive when restarted from the DVD. This should get it started unless the OS install is beyond repair. If true just do an Archive and Install then reapply the latest Combo update from Apple.com/support.

lostinvast · Feb 16, 2009

i can only find the two grey software discs for the mac. Not sure I will see if I can find it thank yoU!

awirz · Feb 16, 2009

Hi lady

this problem is very well known to me! One of my customers had it after installing a Security Update (SecUpd2008-006). And I had another variation of it on 2 of my Macs (startup OK but working was deadly slow with intermediate crashes). So I am now VERY reluctant to install Security Updates since they can wreck your system in minutes.

Try this: start up your Mac with Cmd-S pressed until you see lines being written to the screen. You are in Single User Mode now. Then do the following (type text within double quotes ONLY and take care to type the spaces):
1. "/sbin/fsck -fy"
2. "/sbin/mount -uw /"
3. "sh /etc/rc"

step 1 checks the harddisk, step 2 mounts it and step 3 attempts to continue the system startup until the Login dialog appears. A lot of lines will print on the screen, most of them informational but some of them maybe created by fatal errors. Any errors in conjunction with the loginwindow process are crucial! Let me know what you see.

If loginwindow does not start properly (you get no GUI to login), you have to shutdown the system manually using the command "/sbin/shutdown -h now". If you don't see the cursor or the prompt, press return before entering the above command.

Good luck Adrian

lostinvast · Feb 16, 2009

hiya Adrian

thanks for helping out

I did as said and after following the 3rd step it said :

send to failed to send packet on Interface ID 01808E00

some other things i noticed were "no route to host"
and
"inactive "Rudy Love" (thats the internet connection) "
and "unknown error"

is this a matter i'm going to have to take to the mac store you think?7

awirz · Feb 16, 2009

Hi lady

I don't think the problems you mentioned are serious! Any entries with loginwindow errors? Something is preventing the loginwindow process from starting up!
How far does the /etc/rc script get? Could you give me the last 15-25 lines that you see on your screen. The more info I get the better I can analyse the situation and determine the culprit.

With kind regards Adrian

PS: If we do not find the culprit we can still clear the system caches. This helps in many situations ;D

Mikey_C · Mar 3, 2009

Hello Adrian
Maybe you would be so kind as to help me as I have the exact same issue or atleast think I do based upon this:

If you want to make modifications to files:
/sbin/fsck -fy
/sbin/mount -uw /

If you wish to boot the system, but stay in single user mode:
sh /etc/rc

I followed your advise and I still get stuck at the starting mac os x... screen.

I have no idea what I would be looking for in the code but I am getting a the some of the same errors multiple also "no route to host" 26643XXXXX Just before al the errors appear i do see logging diabled not sure if that is related to the loginwindow error or just that I am in single mode....Like I said I have no clue. Would you be able to offer any insight??

agurlnamedgoo · Mar 3, 2009

I remember back in about 2005 or 2006, on my iBook, I had a similar problem... I don't know if it had had anything to do with a system update, but one day I restarted my computer and just got the wheel forever. I called apple and the woman on the phone had me hold a button down - or maybe press a button over and over? it was either h or control, I believe. I'm sorry I'm so vague here but it was a few years ago. Either way, that brought up a screen and there were steps we took from there... and then the system started properly. Er... idk if this has helped at all, but I thought I'd give it a shot.

Mikey_C · Mar 3, 2009

agurlnamedgoo said:
I remember back in about 2005 or 2006, on my iBook, I had a similar problem... I don't know if it had had anything to do with a system update, but one day I restarted my computer and just got the wheel forever. I called apple and the woman on the phone had me hold a button down - or maybe press a button over and over? it was either h or control, I believe. I'm sorry I'm so vague here but it was a few years ago. Either way, that brought up a screen and there were steps we took from there... and then the system started properly. Er... idk if this has helped at all, but I thought I'd give it a shot.

thanks for the thought but I was spent hours trying everything I could including every possible boot up option to no avail. I have yet to startup via dvd as the disc I have is way outdated at this point and from what I have read woudl not help.

I have spent quite a bit of time online looking for a fix. It seems the most recent security update has created problems for alot of people over the past few weeks. I just hope this isnt the death of my mac!

Mikey_C · Mar 4, 2009

founds startup disk and no errors on it! anyone know also repaired disk permission and still have an issue

any other ideas?

awirz · Mar 4, 2009

Hello Mikey,

sorry about the delay to my reply but my internet connection was down for a few days. My telephone company removed an active telephone number together with my internet connection so I was completely cut off from the world! :Oops:

Now to your problem: can you please be more specific as to what system version and Mac you have, what you did exactly when booted into single user mode (any errors with fsck?) and what errors get displayed just after executing "sh /etc/rc" (where does the system get stuck, e.g. is there a line containing "Login Window Application Started"?). The more specific information you can give me the better I can evaluate the situation and hopefuly help you get back your system. There is always a way to recover from such problems except when the harddisk dies.

The "no route to host" line is not significant as long as the system does not run properly.

Adrian

PS: Have you got an idea as to what caused the problem that you are now experiencing (e.g. installing a security or other software update)?

theafiguy · Mar 5, 2009

Wow, I haven't installed the newest updates to the OS X 10.5, but now I am highly reluctant to.

Mikey_C · Mar 5, 2009

awirz said:
Hello Mikey,

sorry about the delay to my reply but my internet connection was down for a few days. My telephone company removed an active telephone number together with my internet connection so I was completely cut off from the world!

Now to your problem: can you please be more specific as to what system version and Mac you have, what you did exactly when booted into single user mode (any errors with fsck?) and what errors get displayed just after executing "sh /etc/rc" (where does the system get stuck, e.g. is there a line containing "Login Window Application Started"?). The more specific information you can give me the better I can evaluate the situation and hopefuly help you get back your system. There is always a way to recover from such problems except when the harddisk dies.

The "no route to host" line is not significant as long as the system does not run properly.

Adrian

PS: Have you got an idea as to what caused the problem that you are now experiencing (e.g. installing a security or other software update)?

sorry about the internet thing but im sure glad your back.

I have a Powerbook g4 10.4.11 12" powerpc version. I ran disk utility from the disk and am happy to report there were no problems with the HD so thats a relief

The problem came up when I went to restart my computer after the most recent updates (security, itunes, quicktime among others) wjhich seem to have caused problems for a few people. Problem is I also downloaded and installed a a couple freeware programs as I was attempting to copy an old dvd(of my old football games) so I can edit it and clean it up. So I cant jsut blame the securty updates.

After running sh /etc/rc I do not get anything refering to Login. the last line reads workaround bonjour: unknown error: 0 after about 20+ lines or so. I am not sure whatelse I would be looking for.

Funny you should mention the login in window as my comp starts up fine until it is time to get to the login screen. Like it cant find the login. Is that making sense?

thanks again for your help

MIke

awirz · Mar 6, 2009

Mikey_C said:
The problem came up when I went to restart my computer after the most recent updates (security, itunes, quicktime among others) wjhich seem to have caused problems for a few people. Problem is I also downloaded and installed a a couple freeware programs as I was attempting to copy an old dvd(of my old football games) so I can edit it and clean it up. So I cant jsut blame the securty updates.

After running sh /etc/rc I do not get anything refering to Login. the last line reads workaround bonjour: unknown error: 0 after about 20+ lines or so. I am not sure whatelse I would be looking for.
MIke

Hi Mike,

I had several Macs that had startup or other weird problems after installing a security update! The security updates install updated code for a broad variety of programs and frameworks. Just look at install.log in the console program (show the log list by clicking the Logs button at the top left of the tool bar and unfold the /var/log list) and enter "install:" in the search field.

The "about 20+ lines or so" can be extremely important in determining what is going wrong! If you get any errors when starting to enter single user mode it would also be handy for me to know about. If the following does not get you anywhere then PLEASE submit as much of these errors as possible.

Now let's do something! Please make sure to enter the commands exactly as given. First start your Mac pressing Cmd-S which takes you into single user mode. Then enter the 2 following commands you know already (they fix and prepare the harddisk, notice the space between -uw and the slash in the 2nd command!):
/sbin/fsck -fy
/sbin/mount -uw /

Now we are going to delete 2 extension cache files that may prevent your Mac from running properly:
cd /System/Library
rm Extensions.kextcache
rm Extensions.mkext

Please make sure you enter the directories of the following commands EXACTLY as given!
Now we are going to delete some operational cache files (check whether you are in the CORRECT directory using the pwd command!):
cd /Library/Caches
pwd
rm -R *

Now we are going to delete some system cache files (check whether you are in the CORRECT directory using the pwd command!):
cd /System/Library/Caches
pwd
rm -R *
cd /var/db
pwd
rm BootCache.playlist

continue system start:
sh /etc/rc

Good luck

Adrian

awirz · Mar 12, 2009

awirz said:
continue system start:
sh /etc/rc

Hi Mike,

instead of the last step I recommended (see quote above) it would be better to issue a restart command so that the machine is given a chance to rebuild the boot cache files:

shutdown -r now

Let me know whether my instructions got you any further.

Adrian

macdafydd · Mar 13, 2009

This is very interesting, as I have exactly the same problem, after having installed the same software updates to MacOS X Tiger 10.4.11 on an iBook.

I have followed your suggestions to the letter. Unfortunately, the final sh /etc/rc command causes a great deal to be reported, but this comes to a stop with the line:

Workaround Bonjour: Unknown error: 0

Still, I continued with the shutdown -r now suggestion. After the shutdown, I restarted, only to end up with the same dark grey apple on a light grey background, with a cog-wheel seemingly endlessly spinning.

awirz · Mar 13, 2009

macdafydd said:
I have followed your suggestions to the letter. Unfortunately, the final sh /etc/rc command causes a great deal to be reported, but this comes to a stop with the line:

Workaround Bonjour: Unknown error: 0

Still, I continued with the shutdown -r now suggestion. After the shutdown, I restarted, only to end up with the same dark grey apple on a light grey background, with a cog-wheel seemingly endlessly spinning.

Hi macdafydd,

could you report the last 10 lines or so (more is better

) before the Workaround Bonjour error is diplayed in single user mode? What happens if you start the Mac with the shift key held down?

I'm trying to find out more about the Workaround Bonjour problem.

Adrian

macdafydd · Mar 14, 2009

awirz said:
Hi macdafydd,

could you report the last 10 lines or so (more is better ) before the Workaround Bonjour error is diplayed in single user mode? What happens if you start the Mac with the shift key held down?

I'm trying to find out more about the Workaround Bonjour problem.

Adrian

I've been through your procedure again.

/sbin/fsck -fy appears to work correctly;

/sbin/mount -uw / returns "HFS: Removed 1 orphaned unlinked file";

After the cd /var/db the rm BootCache.playlist returns "No such file or directiry" (but this, of course, could be because this was already performed successfully last night!);

The last lines of sh /etc/rc, prior to the Workaround bonjour error are as follows:

Jan 1 01:16:56 localhost mDNSResponder: mDNSPlatformSendUDP sendto failed to send packet or InterfaceID 01808A00 lo0/4 to 224.0.0.251.5353 skt 9 error -1 errno 65 (No route to host) 2709904900
ApplePMU:

MU forced shutdown, cause = -51
Jan 1 01:16:56 localhost mDNSResponder: mDNSPlatformSendUDP sendto failed to send packet or InterfaceID 01808A00 lo0/4 to 224.0.0.251.5353 skt 9 error -1 errno 65 (No route to host) 2709905151
Jan 1 01:16:58 localhost mDNSResponder: mDNSPlatformSendUDP sendto failed to send packet or InterfaceID 01808A00 lo0/4 to 224.0.0.251.5353 skt 9 error -1 errno 65 (No route to host) 2709907211
Jan 1 01:16:58 localhost mDNSResponder: mDNSPlatformSendUDP sendto failed to send packet or InterfaceID 01808A00 lo0/4 to 224.0.0.251.5353 skt 9 error -1 errno 65 (No route to host) 2709907211
Jan 1 01:16:59 localhost mDNSResponder: mDNSPlatformSendUDP sendto failed to send packet or InterfaceID 01808A00 lo0/4 to 224.0.0.251.5353 skt 9 error -1 errno 65 (No route to host) 2709907461
Jan 1 01:16:59 localhost mDNSResponder: Adding browse domain local.
Jan 1 01:16:59 localhost mDNSResponder: mDNSPlatformSendUDP sendto failed to send packet or InterfaceID 01808A00 lo0/4 to 224.0.0.251.5353 skt 9 error -1 errno 65 (No route to host) 2709908211
Jan 1 01:17:01 localhost mDNSResponder: mDNSPlatformSendUDP sendto failed to send packet or InterfaceID 01808A00 lo0/4 to 224.0.0.251.5353 skt 9 error -1 errno 65 (No route to host) 2709907211
Jan 1 01:17:11 Eunices-iBook SystemStarter[85]: No executable file /Library/StartupItems/Tablet/Tablet
Airport: Rx'd mesg P-1
Airport: Rx'd mesg P-3
Airport: New Group Key, Idx 1
Workaround Bonjour: Unknown error: 0

The hard disk then works for a while, before apparently stopping. However, after some time (about the time it took me to type the above sequence and I don't type quickly!), more messages appear, as follows:

Airport: New Group Key, Idx 2
Airport: New Group Key, Idx 1

Still control is not returned to user, so the sh /etc/rc is apparently still working, or in a loop. This is presumably where the GUI startup's cogwheel turns forever (on this iBook yesterday, it was left to spin for at least two hours).

Now, starting up with the shift-key held down. After considerable hard-disk activity, the cog-wheel goes into its never-ending spinning mode.

Some additional information. I've tried starting up the iBook in Target Disk mode. This appears to work: the FireWire icon appears on the screen, at least. However, when connected to my PowerBook, the PB is unable to detect the iBook as a FireWire device in the Finder. It can see the device in Disk Utility, but can do nothing with it.

awirz · Mar 16, 2009

macdafydd said:
The last lines of sh /etc/rc, prior to the Workaround bonjour error are as follows:

....
Jan 1 01:17:11 Eunices-iBook SystemStarter[85]: No executable file
....
Workaround Bonjour: Unknown error: 0

....

Some additional information. I've tried starting up the iBook in Target Disk mode. This appears to work: the FireWire icon appears on the screen, at least. However, when connected to my PowerBook, the PB is unable to detect the iBook as a FireWire device in the Finder. It can see the device in Disk Utility, but can do nothing with it.

Hi macdafydd,

the SystemStarter line shows the problem: the executable is not found or not marked as executable. Can you boot into single user mode and execute the following commands which would show the current state of the SystemStarter file as follows "-rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 37412 May 3 2006 SystemStarter*":

cd /sbin
ls -FCla SystemStarter

If the file is not there we have a major problem, if the permissions or owner/group are not as shown above we can set them using the following commands (execute the first 2 commands as preparation then the 3rd to adapt permissions and/or the 4th to change owner/group; we are still in the sbin directory):

/sbin/fsck -fy
/sbin/mount -uw /
chmod u=rwx,go=rx SystemStarter
usr/sbin/chown root:wheel SystemStarter

Now double check the permissions or owner/group again. If they are correct then continue startup with "sh /etc/rc" and let me know what happens.

By the way: have you got a recent backup of your data on the harddisk? I ask because it seems that the harddisk is badly damaged because it does not mount in target disk mode. Have you tried using Disk Warrior on the harddisk when it is connected to your PowerBook (in target disk mode)? This could probably make the disk mountable again.

Good luck ;D Adrian

oscarszook · Apr 5, 2009

Hi, i have also experienced similar problem recently with my iBook G4. Updated then reseted>makes it's noise and goes to the white screen where there is a apple icon and a continous spinning wheel. I tried the shift on reset>does nothing. Can get it into the mode where i can type in the nvram reset stuff>did nothing. Got into what u guys did and typed in the first step and got>Checking multilinked files
Checking catalog hirarchy
Checking extension attributes file
Checking volume bitmap
volume bit map needs minor repair
invalid volume free block
should be1098888 instead of 1084236
then started over again
finished with The volume Macintosh HD was repaired succesfully

then i tried to restart it bit there was no change?

any help would be so very very appreciated.
Thankyou

Dean